Joe Gonzalez

The average commute time in America is about 24 minutes each way, according to recent reports from the Census Bureau. That means Americans spend about 48 minutes travelling to and from work each day. And, if we work about 245 days a year, that adds up to a total of 196 hours a year! That means, on average, we spend more than 8 full days just sitting in our cars each year. Imagine what you could accomplish if you could only get half of this time back.

Of course, no one can turn back the clock, but almost everyone can make more of the time we have, even during our commutes. Here are a few ideas for making the most of your time on the road:

Don't just fill up the tank. Fill up your brain too - Audio books are becoming more and more popular, and almost every publisher is taking advantage of this trend. Not only can you find your favorite novels on CD, business books and other non-fiction publications are available as well. Even some magazines, like The Economist, have audio versions of their publications.

Imagine sitting in traffic and learning another language or listening to a series of lectures from the top universities in the country. You could also load up your iPod or MP3 player with all sorts of great material from your favorite websites. Your local library has a great selection of free audio books, and new text-to-speak technology can turn almost any book into hours of learning material.

Put yourself in the driver's seat - What if you got to work and a list of everything you had to do that day was there waiting for you, typed out and sitting on your desk? Well, with services like CopyTalk and Jot Spot, this is possible.

Using your hands-free cell phone, call one of these mobile scribe companies while you're in the car and everything you say will be typed and emailed to you by the time you get to work. Plus, by getting all of your nagging to-dos out of your head, you'll be more able to focus on your audio books. This is also a great, and much safer way, to brainstorm and work out the finer details of those amazing ideas that only seem to come to you while you're in the car. If you don't want to pay for this service, you could just call your voicemail directly with the same information. Do this on the way home and you could keep a detailed record of your day and free your mind for the drive home.

Get the right balance - Another great use of your time in the car is to focus on your work/life balance. Now that you've recorded your day and freed your mind of work, why not use this time to focus on the important people in your life. A lot of us tend to wait until we get home before we "unwind" and to create that all important separation of our work and home lives - but we can just as easily do this in the car. What if you called your spouse or your children on your way home and asked about their day? You could also call your parents or siblings or catch up with old and new friends. Do this frequently and, suddenly, creating the right work/life balance will become much easier, and so will your commute.

If you have any tips for a more productive commute that I should add to my list, please give me a call.

You've heard about the Credit Crunch and its tightening effect on lending guidelines in the mortgage industry, but what does it mean to millions of Americans who need student loans to help pay their college tuition?

The student loan market looked pretty bleak during the first quarter of 2008. Not only did the reduced benefits created by the College Cost Reduction and Access Act in 2007 kick in, but for the first time in 40 years, no bonds backed by student loans were purchased during this time. The new bill, which was good news for students, was funded by cutting subsidies to student lenders already feeling the effects of the credit crunch. According to Forbes, this loss of liquidity spooked a lot of investors of the student loan asset-backed securities market, destabilized Sallie Mae, the largest federal student loan provider and servicer, and sent student lenders into turmoil, as at least 50 federal student loan providers scaled back or ended participation in this type of lending.

Since then, Congress has passed legislation and taken other measures to ensure that student loan companies continue to issue federally subsidized student loans. Now, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA), most "traditional" students should have no problem getting federal student loans from the remaining 2,000-plus lenders participating in this market.

For those students forced to seek private or alternate education loans, however, this is a much different story. NASFAA says many students could have trouble getting these types of student loans. Because of this, NASFAA added that private student loans should only be used as a last resort when it comes to paying for college.

Which students are affected?

• Students attending smaller schools and for-profit career or trade colleges, or other institutions that rely heavily on private lenders, will find it more difficult and expensive to gain access to private student loans than they have in the past - especially if they have credit issues.
  
  
• Older students, students with poor credit, or those students without a creditworthy co-signer (e.g., mom and dad), are likely to pay higher rates for whatever private student loans they are able to find.
  
  
• Students whose college tuition is more than their federal loans provide could also be affected if a) a private loan is necessary to make up the difference or b) the student does not qualify for Federal Perkins or PLUS loans or other types of financial aid programs.
  
  
• It's important to note that financial aid, including Pell Grants, Federal Work Study, and education tax benefits are not affected by the Credit Crunch.

The biggest mistake students and parents can make in these situations is loading up credit cards and taking on expensive private loans to pay for college. Over the course of four or five years, this could really add up and put you or your children in debt for years to come. If you're a homeowner, however, you may be able to avoid this credit trap by consolidating credit card balances and other debt through a home refinance.

Before you make any major credit decision regarding college tuition, give us a call. We'll gladly review your finances and help you make the best decision for your specific goals and needs.